Juice review: The Notebook by Black Note, Part 1

Black Note produces, according to themselves, "the first lab certified N.E.T.  vapor liquid on the planet". This means they've tested all their juices for contents of different potentially harmful substances, Diacetyl and Acetyl Propionyl being the ones that seems to be the most worrying ones at the moment. As you can see from the lab reports they've published they all came out pretty clean. I also asked them a bit about clogged up coils, that in my experience have been kind of an issue with N.E.T that I've tried. Black Note say that they do not use any artificial flavors and sweeteners, and a unique extraction process that keeps their juices coil friendly. I've been vaping some of the juices for a while now, and I see no reason to argue with that as I've had no problems with clogged up coils so far.

According to a study by Dr. Farsalinos (read about it here) Naturally Extracted Tobacco e-juices do contain somewhat higher levels of nitrosamines and some other tobacco related substances than conventional e-juice, but we are still talking about very small amounts compared to cigarette smoke. To be honest I'm more concerned about DA and AP levels in e-liquid than these substances. The article I've linked above pretty much sums this up, so I recommend reading it if you're worried. Also I recommend having a look at Black Note's web-page, which is really good with a lot of nice info on their juices and how they are made. You can even customize the labels on the bottles you buy.

The Black Note range consists of 8 tobacco e-liquids, one of them with some mint in it. In the Notebook, that I'm reviewing here, you get 7.5 ml sample bottles of the whole range, nicely packed in a box resembling... big surprise: a Notebook.

I have to say, Black Notes design and packaging is really well done. Their website is great, a lot of good information on their story, how the juices are made, what's in them and so on. I get the impression that nothing is just put out there in a hurry, and there is a good reason for everything they do. The secondary packaging, for example, is not there just cause it looks kind of cool, but it also protects the juice from light. And in addition to that, Black Note even lets you recycle the tubes, giving you a free 30ml bottle of juice if you return 5 tubes. Very consistent with their vision of natural harmony.

All of these things that Black Note have done, the design, the web-site, packaging, and so on, oozes of quality. Really makes you want to try out these juices, but also raise the expectations quite a bit. So are the juices as good as they look? The short and simple answer is: YES!

Well, at least the once I've tried out so far. You see trying out 8 of these juices are going to take a me longer than I thought, for a couple of reasons actually. You see I decided to set up my 2 Hellfire drippers (a V1 and a Raptor for those interrested) for testing these juices, simply because I find those the best ones when it comes to flavour. The problem is that once I started vaping the 2 first juices, I can't really get myself to rebuild the atties before the bottles are empty. They're simply that good. But then again, this also gave me the opportunity to really test if Black Notes' claim that the juices are coil friendly were true, and as I said, I've had no problems with clogged up coils until now. I do get some burnt taste when taking the first couple of draws on the V1 after the coil has been cold for a while, but this goes away pretty quickly so it's not an issue for me. I just do a couple of puffs without inhaling and it goes away.

I've managed to empty the two first bottles I tried, Cadenza and Adagio, and I'm now on number 3 and 4, Forte and Legato, now. All 4 of them are fantastic juices. Very authentic tobacco flavours, as you would expect from N.E.T juices, no artificial feeling whatsoever. All of them taste as natural as the ingredients they're extracted from. Good throat-hit and massive flavour from all of them as well. They're all 50/50 PG/VG which is the only available mixing ratio. As for nicotine they come in 0, 3, 6, 12, 18 and 24mg/ml (the one's I've got are 18).

It's not easy to pick a favourite among these, they all have their own character, being made from different kinds of tobacco. So I'm not going to... for now, and I'm not going too go too deep in the description either, cause I'm not a tobacco expert. I think people, tobacco lovers in particular, should try all of these juices and pick their own favourite. So for this first part I'm just going to give you a short description of the 4 juices I've tried so far, and maybe I'll try to pick a favourite for part 2, that I'll probably be able to do when I get back from vacation in 3 weeks time.

Cadenza
Well balanced, sweet, smoky, woody and some hints of spices. Based on Basma tobacco that some say is the "king of tobaccos". A great one that will complement your cup of coffee nicely.

Adagio
Sweet with hints of nuts or maybe almonds. To me the nuts or
almonds come across clearly in the smell of the juice, almost have some hints of marzipan. An all day vape candidate. Based on Havana tobaccos.

Forte
Made from Burley tobacco. Smooth and sweet both on the inhale and exhale. Maybe hints of nuts in this one as well. Also a great all day vape candidate for me.

Legato
Kentucky tobacco this time. Getting kind of a woody, smokey
vibe from this one. First thing that hit me when I tried this one was that this would taste great out in the wild, with a camp fire going and after enjoying a meal you've killed yourself in some way or another. Could very well be the one I'd bring for hunting or fishing.

That's it for now. Fabulous juices these are, and I definitely recommend giving them a try. I'd say it's one of the best tobacco juices I've tried, if not the best. Only House of Liquid comes even close to these in my opinion, and if you like HOL, you'll like these for sure. Can't wait to try out the rest.


UPDATE: Black Note can now be bought at this side of the pond as well, from vapour.co.uk.

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• The juice was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
• This review contains affiliate links.